Flowers

Red, orange, yellow: all the colours of the rainbow can be found amongst wildflowers. Wherever you live, from city centres to remote mountain tops, there are wildflowers to discover.

They come in a huge range of colours, shapes and sizes but they all have similar parts – and knowing the names of these parts will help you when it comes to identifying them. A magnifying glass will reveal the shape and structure of leaves, stems, buds, flowers and seeds and provide vital clues to let you name the flower you have found. A good wildflower field guide, a notebook to record your finds and a hand lens or magnifying glass are all you need to start discovering your local wildflowers.

Did you know?

One in five of our native wildflowers is endangered.

Five wildflowers to look out for:

Bluebells: One of our greatest wildflower spectacles is a carpet of thousands of bluebells. Look out for this in woodlands during late April and May.

Common Poppy: Not many wildflowers will cause motorists to pull over and stop in amazement but a bright red field of poppies can. Look for poppy fields in June and July on farmland.

Foxglove: Foxgloves are sometimes over a metre high, with dozens of purple, tubular flowers which are irresistible to bees. Look for this spectacular wildflower in woodlands and on moors and heaths between June and August.

Daisy: A distinctive, small, low-growing wildflower, with a ring of white petals, sometimes tinged red or pink, surrounding a yellow, disc-like centre. Look out for daisies in short grassland such as lawns and school playing fields.

Primrose: One of the earliest wildflowers in Spring. Its pale yellow flowers each grow on a slender stalk. Look for primroses in March and April along hedgerows, on grassy banks and in woods.